Damn the Smoke Rings
by pixiecullen
Summary: A curious patient in Carlisle's ward.A screaming girl with a silent mind...n when Edward enters,her blood cripples his control.B4 he gets2 her,she disappears.TheCullens r intrigued2 find out more about this strange girl,n a world of lies n secrets emerges
1. Chapter 1

_Though I know that evenin's empire has returned into sand,  
Vanished from my hand,  
Left me blindly here to stand but still not sleeping.  
My weariness amazes me, I'm branded on my feet,  
I have no one to meet  
And the ancient empty street's too dead for dreaming_

"Carlisle?" I asked quietly as I entered the hospital.

_Working. I'll come out soon._

"Do you want any help?" I saw a girl lying on a bed through his eyes, her eyes wide open and cowering away from whatever she could see on the ceiling.

_If you don't mind. _

It was close to midnight, and the activity was low in this part of the hospital. I went up to Carlisle at human pace though, because there were still doctors and patients around. As I turned to the corridor Carlisle's room was in, I saw his mental vision, his panicked thoughts beyond words. The girl was sitting straight up in the bed, her eyes wide and staring. She looked terrified.

Then she started screaming.

I ran for the door, entering a room I could already see through Carlisle's eyes-

I fell.

The desire for blood rushed up through my body and to my teeth before I could even realise why. Her scent- the blood, she- I had to- the taste, unimaginable- gulping, drinking, swallowing- flesh, biting- screaming-

Screaming. Still screaming. She shrieked, fixated by whatever she could see. A girl. Alive. I was not going to- to drink her, to drain her, feel warm human blood- finally, gushing down my throat, relieving that thirst, draining her dry-

"Edward?" _What on earth has happened? Has he been affected by her vision? Is it because he can see into her mind?_

See into her mind? I looked at the girl- the human. Her mind… her mind? Was I deaf? Was she dead? No… I could hear her heart gushing out sweet, thick blood, pumping it through her veins, see the tiny flutters in her neck where the blood pulsed next to her papery, sweaty skin.

I realised I was on the floor the moment I leapt up at her, jumping for her, onto her, the venom in my mouth spilling out as I opened to bite-

A strong force hit me back just as I felt her fragile skin beneath my hands as she was knocked back onto the bed. I was on the ground again. I shook my head, and leapt again. This time I saw Carlisle, as he threw me away from the mute girl. A growl ripped up in my body, scratching against my dry throat- thirst, blood, sweet blood, girl- I leapt again, this time for Carlisle, to wrench him out of the way. He was thrown against the wall in my sudden strength, and I lunged for the bed.

It was empty.

I inhaled, and her scent still lingered. My vision was narrowed and dark, it was if I could only see her scent, _feel_ it, _need_ it… It was out the window, through the window, the open window carried her scent, that sweet scent…

_Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,  
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.  
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,  
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you_

**Please tell me what you think. If you read this and you think it's intriguing, review and I'll continue. If you have any ideas where this is going- help me please. I won't continue with this story unless I have some kind of response/inspiration so if you read this, review it so I know what people are thinking. **


	2. Chapter 2

_Take me on a trip upon your magic swirlin' ship  
My senses have been stripped, my hands can't feel to grip  
My toes too numb to step, wait only for my boot heels  
To be wanderin'  
I'm ready to go anywhere, I'm ready for to fade  
Into my own parade, cast your dancing spell my way  
I promise to go under it._

Pulled by her scent, I leapt out the hospital window- three floors.

_What was that?_

_Was that a suicide jumper?_

_Did anyone else see that?_

_Oh my God!_

_Was that a man??_

_Where did he come from?_

I jumped the hospital fence easily and ploughed into the woods. Her scent was still fresh. I slowed, trying to hear her numbered heartbeats- there. I could sense her, deep into the forest, her heart pumping furiously. I sped towards her.

What _was_ she? She can't have got to the middle of the forest already, it was impossible. But she was, her heart rate as fast as a sparrow's in springtime. How could she move so fast? And why couldn't I hear her mind? She _was_ human, I knew that. I could smell it- so pungent, so delicious…

I ran faster.

The smell was so intoxicating, it undermined any part of my brain that would normally have tried to resist. I just felt my body react, leaping through the trees with predatory grace and concentration. I smelt another predator, I was going too fast, the trail could have been months old or fresh, or belong to one of my family, but my throat produced a feral snarl and I ran faster.

Animals could feel my approach and fast disappeared into the depths of their home, clearing the way for me, their ultimate predator. But it wasn't them I was after. It was that sweet human, with her alluring smell, that would finally quench the thirst I had been craving, needing for so long, and return the side of me that was natural and ferocious.

It got stronger and stronger. Then I began to hear thoughts. They sounded strange for her- I'd imagined it to be a much higher voice.

_There he is… I think he's the mind reader. _

Then I saw her. She sat against a tree, just visible five hundred metres off, vulnerable, weak. She was staring straight ahead of her, as if captivated. She was waiting for me, so easy, so close, about to taste, feel, drink… I ran faster, almost there, imagining the hot, wet-

Suddenly I was on the ground, rolling from the force of my running and whatever I had crashed into. I stopped myself, sprang back up, and ran for her again, her heartbeat was still speeding. Suddenly she heard my approach, and her head snapped in my direction. She could see me now- see her destruction- and her mouth opened to scream again, a spooky, wailing cry, her eyes fixated on her approaching doom, her eyes blank, staring, possessed-

Then I stopped.

_Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,  
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.  
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,  
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you_

**OK, tell me what you think. Leaving short chapters and cliffhangers, so I can get a response from you guys, coz I want to know whether this is worth carrying on. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far- please review again and tell me what you think of this chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

_Though you might hear laughin', spinnin' swingin' madly across the sun  
It's not aimed at anyone, it's just escapin' on the run  
And but for the sky there are no fences facin'  
And if you hear vague traces of skippin' reels of rhyme  
To your tambourine in time, it's just a ragged clown behind  
I wouldn't pay it any mind, it's just a shadow you're  
Seein' that he's chasing._

Then I stopped.

It was impossible. One second I had been running straight for the girl- the next my path to her was blocked.

By a vampire.

How on earth had he got into my path so quickly? There was no way I couldn't have seen him, even with all my senses glued onto the girl my vampire nature still kept peripheral vision- and I should have seen him. And why didn't I smell him? I was obviously too focused, too overwhelmed by the irresistible stench of this girl, that I hadn't noticed anything else- not even the smell of this vampire which I was only noticing now.

I felt a growl rip from my throat and I kept in my predatory position, threatening this vampire, communicating to him that he had to move or fight.

I suddenly realised that I had had some clue of his presence- his thoughts. I had heard him, saying I was the mind reader. Of course, I just assumed it was the girl. But the girl's mind was silent- as it still was now, I thought, trying in vain to hear her, a few trees away. She was still screaming, her eyes fixed blankly on me, not really seeing me, but seeming horrified beyond interpretation at what she could see.

The vampire held his hands up to communicate- what? Submission? Surrender?

_I want to talk to you. I know of your power, and I cannot allow you to get any closer to Bella. You need to understand what's going on. I believed you were animal blood-drinkers, and you wouldn't be a threat to Bella. If I am mistaken, tell me at once so that I can leave. I cannot stay where there is a risk for Bella. _

"I normally drink animal blood," I spat, "But her… she…" I muttered, her scent still pulling me. I dodged to the right to try to break his defence, to get to the girl, but he blocked me off in an instant. So suddenly, yet again, I was surprised. He looked mortified.

_La tua cantante? _

I thought briefly about that- yes, I guessed it was. So I nodded. No one had every smelled that way to me before, and I knew I had to drink it, I would search the world until I found her again. I feinted right, then shot left, hoping again to break his defence. But again he stopped me with invampire speed. I growled again and bore my teeth.

"Move."

_I cannot do that. If only you would understand. Why do you drink animal blood?_

"My father…morals…" I muttered, still watching the screaming girl and trying to work out how to get to her. But my words triggered something- my father, Carlisle. I had thrown him to the floor, fought him. I was breaking our morals, ones I had taken decades to establish and perfect. I shouldn't throw it all away- he would be so… disappointed. I would hate myself for it, never forgive myself. Then the wind threw another whiff of her amazing scent my way again and I yet again started planning ways to break his defences. His strength seemed to be his speed… and mine was my mind reading, so could I predict his movements before…

I shook my head. Carlisle, Carlisle. I needed to clear my head. The girl was downwind. I ran around her, making her upwind, the vampire following me, not allowing me any closer. I stopped again, taking deep breaths. It worked, I began to think more clearly. I tried to avert my eyes from the girl, so she wouldn't distract me again.

_Well done._ I realised from the satisfied tone of his thoughts he knew asking that question would evoke a more reasonable response. This vampire was intelligent.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"I'm trying to protect Bella. I need to speak with your father. I'd prefer to keep this as quiet as possible, I need some advice from your father." He replied.

"What will you do with the girl while you're speaking with him?" I asked hopefully.

"_Bella_ will come with me, of course. And due to your… attraction… I'd prefer you were not present." I swallowed my anger bitterly. I needed to talk to Alice. I needed to talk to Carlisle. And I needed to get away from this damned intoxicating creature called Bella.

"I need to speak to my family. You will understand, due to your sudden arrival, we know nothing of you and I feel uncomfortable inviting you into our home without any conference with my family." I said coldly.

_Of course. We shall wait. Your sister shall see when I am waiting for you again. I shall come back here once you have been given time to make a decision. _

How did he know about Alice? It was unnerving. He also knew about my mind reading, which was worrying also. How much did he know? What was he wanting? And why was he concerned about this human?

"Before I go," I said hesitantly, "out of curiosity, what's your diet?" His eyes were dark, he was obviously thirsty, so I couldn't tell.

"For the rest of my life, it has been human blood. Yet my current connection with this human girl Bella, who smells so delicious, has caused me to want to redirect myself so I am not so attracted to humans, and can therefore not kill her by accident. So currently it is animals."

I nodded. "How old are you?" I asked.

"I will answer your questions in time. I am just as wary of you as you are of me." He answered suspiciously. Why did you come here in the first place then? I wanted to ask. Why was he reluctant to give me any information on himself? His thoughts were well controlled, too. Making me think he had been planning this trip for a while. I spun on my heel and sprinted away.

* * *

"That must be what those visions were about- the man talking to Carlisle, you, Edward, with a human girl, Carlisle examining a human girl." Alice muttered.

"What? You never told me about them? When did you have these?" I asked.

"I don't tell you everything I see, Edward, there just isn't time. And these weren't important or threatening, I would have mentioned them if they were. I guess I just didn't see that this man was a vampire- that's the odd thing. But Carlisle talking to a man could have been at his work, as could the examination, so why should I make anything special of it?"

"You tell me, Alice." I was frustrated and I didn't even really know why. I expected Alice to have answers, I needed to know what was going on. The whole situation was too odd. A girl with a delicious scent, being kept protectively by a vampire who, until very recently, drank human blood who wants to speak to Carlisle. A vampire who also had extensive knowledge of my family, and somehow had avoided being noticed in Alice's visions.

Carlisle was returning at six. I hated waiting, and I wasn't sure what his reaction would be to my violence earlier. Jasper was hunting with Rosalie and Emmett, Alice was going to join them tonight but I had caught her before she left to talk to her. She knew hardly anything.

"Where did you see me with the human girl? Did you see me drinking her blood?" I asked, and as she remembered, the memory played in her head for me to see.

_I was clearly suffering physical pain to hold myself together, with a look of fierce concentration on my face as I reached out to the girl. We were standing in the house, in the 'dining room' and she was sitting in a chair, rocking as if trying to stop herself from bolting out the room and biting her lip to stop herself from screaming. She looked like she was in great pain and fear, but her eyes looked beseechingly at me as if she could sense some kindness in me. I was reaching out to her- it looked like I was trying to comfort her, but how could that be? _

The vision was no more than two seconds, but I could see a lot in her eyes, my eyes and the body language. What was the relationship between us? Had I not killed her then? How could I have restrained myself, and surely being in the same room as her was not the cleverest thing I could do if I was trying to help her. Where was the vampire? And what tied me to this creature that I may sit beside her anyway?

And how much did she know about vampires? Why was the only sound I had heard from her a bloodcurdling, eerie scream? What was wrong with her? And why was I so curious?

Then I heard Carlisle. He was back, and I needed to talk.

_Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,  
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.  
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,  
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you_

**So, this was a bit longer than the other two, I'm starting to realise where this is going. I hope I've got you curious about what's going on and whats Bella's problem. If you have any ideas, review and tell me, I'd really love to know and it might inspire me. Sorry if you saw the ideas I had at the end of my last chapter- thanks fatallyobsessed for pointing them out to me. Thanks all my reviewers, I love hearing feedback, please continue!**


	4. Chapter 4

_Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,  
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.  
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,  
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you_

"In here, Carlisle." I said softly, and he was in the dining room in a moment. He looked… angry.

What _were you thinking, Edward?_

"I-"

_Three nurses and eleven patients saw you jump out that window._

I noticed Alice hovering curiously by the door.

"Get out, please, Alice." I said, not taking my eyes off Carlisle. She left.

_I spent the whole afternoon trying to think of ways to explain it. But I couldn't. So now everyone thinks there was a suicide jumper who managed to survive and get away. Some of them even saw the jump before you- the girl. They've had the press in and everything. _

"Carlisle- they'll never trace it back to me. No one even knew I was in the hospital." I implored.

_What about my patient? How can I explain her disappearance? If it got out people will think it was her who jumped, and that I was there when it happened. I said I transferred her to another hospital myself this afternoon and changed the records._

"Then there is no longer a problem, Carlisle."

_It's an inconvenience we cannot repeat. _

"All right. I'm sorry, Carlisle." He nodded.

_Now, what actually happened?_

I took a deep breath. "Her blood…" I shuddered involuntarily with bloodlust just remembering her scent. "It called to me… La tua cantante."

_Ah_.

"And I couldn't control myself, I had to have her. I didn't see her leave the room, because I was…" I looked down. "Sorry about that, Carlisle. I followed her scent out of the window, and heard her heartbeats already far into the wood. But I couldn't hear her thoughts."

_Really? That's very unusual… may be connected to her condition, or could it be something she was bo-_

"Just as I saw her, a male vampire was suddenly in my way. I heard his thoughts and thought it was the girls. But he was so fast I hadn't even caught his scent or seen him before he blocked my way. He wouldn't let me get to the girl. He knew a lot about us, knew my power, Alice's power, that we are animal blood drinkers and he needed to speak to you. He was very protective of the girl, who started screaming again when she saw me, and wouldn't let me any closer to her. I said I needed to speak to my family, and he said Alice would see when he was waiting for us."

_Did you get his name?_

"No. He didn't introduce himself. He referred to the girl as Bella."

_Bella? I heard of that name the last time we saw the Denali clan. _

"Really? When was that?" The girl was human, what interest was she to us except for her smell? I figured it was something about her screaming. "What's her condition, what were you treating her for?"

_She was stumbling around outside, and apparently she was saying my name over and over, so she was brought inside to see me. She cowered away from several people on her way up to my room, not from me, but two male doctors. She was calming down in the room and I was beginning to assess her, thinking your mind insight would have been useful. When you came in, she started screaming and cowering away from you, even more than the two doctors. Obviously then I didn't see anything else._

"And the Denali clan?"

_I heard Kate talking to Eleazar about a human called Bella, an experiment of this vampire who had not given his name. It was really strange, I heard Kate mention it quietly just as I left, and didn't see necessary to look into it._

Carlisle recalled the memory for me. It was just a whisper.

"_Does Carlisle know about Bella Swan?" Kate murmured, just loud enough for me to still hear as I walked out of their gardens._

"_No, who's that? I don't believe I've heard of her either." Eleazar replied. _

"_I'm so sorry, I thought Tanya would have told you about it. It was while you were away last winter. We were visited by a vampire who needed to know-"_

_I couldn't hear any more, I was too far away. However, I was intrigued, so doubled back for a moment in curiosity._

"_-kind of experiment. I'm surprised Tanya didn't tell you about it. We'll tell you more when she gets back. It's a shame you were not here really, you could have-"_

_I turned away again, not knowing much more. Strange really, but I didn't put much thought into it once I got back home._

"Thank you, Carlisle." I said, so intrigued I could barely think it over. A human experiment? With a girl who smelt like heaven on Earth? And her mind, it was almost certainly crippled to some extent, because her eyes were so distant, as if she couldn't see, and her actions were so unrelated, as if she couldn't hear, and her thoughts were silent, as if she couldn't think. And the screaming… she had a bloodcurdling scream whenever I saw her that pierced my ears like glass on a blackboard. So what interest was she to a vampire? Was he draining her slowly? He said he wanted to speak to Carlisle- someone with infinite medical knowledge. Maybe she was sick? That's why she was in hospital? Maybe she wasn't always as insane, and he wanted advice about it?

Was he with the Volturi? Why was he being so elusive? What was his name…

Carlisle had visited the Denali clan six months ago… and Kate said he visited the winter before that. He must have had Bella for nine months at least… probably more. We should probably talk with the Denali clan, see what they know. Maybe Carlisle would be opposed to that, because he had effectively been eavesdropping. But we could sidestep that. Yes, the more I thought over it the cleverer talking to Kate seemed more attractive.

"We should call them. Ask them what they know." I said.

_Of course. Don't say that I-_

"Of course. I'll call them now, before the others get back." I raced to get the phone, impatient to hear answers. The phone buzzed twice in my ear before I heard Irina pick up the phone and greet me.

"Good evening, Irina. I'm fine, how are you?"

"Could not be better, Edward. How may I help you?"

"Is Kate around? I need to speak with her fairly urgently." I asked.

"I'm sorry, it's only me and Tanya at the moment… Kate is our hunting. Can we help at all?" I shut my eyes, I'd been hoping against this.

"I'll speak with Tanya then, if you please. Unless… can you tell me anything about Bella Swan, Irina?"

I heard a gasp, and the phone line went dead. I looked at Carlisle, bewildered. I picked up the phone and rang again. It rang eight times before someone picked it up.

"Edward?" It was Tanya.

"Hello, Tanya. I need to ask about Bella Swan. Why did-"

"I'm so sorry about that, Edward. It's a rather disclosed matter, we can't talk about it. It's for the greater good- we're not trying to be rude. But it's been so long since you've called, I wonder-"

"I'm sorry, Tanya, but I can hear my family returning and we urgently need to speak with them. Isn't there anything you can tell me?"

I heard Irina whisper through a hand covering the phone on the other end, "No! It's not ours to tell!" and grimaced. Tanya spoke again with honey-coated words.

"I'm sorry, but I can't. I hope to see you again soon."

"Goodbye, Tanya." I slammed the phone down on a desk I hadn't realised I was beside so hard the phone shattered. Carlisle was feeling frustrated downstairs. And I hadn't been lying about my family, I could hear them returning, buzzing with leftover excitement from the hunt and thinking over what Alice had told them with anticipation. Jasper came in first, tasting our atmosphere. I shot downstairs to sit in the meeting room with Carlisle to find Jasper sitting there, and Alice coming through the door. Esme came in next, and Rosalie and Emmett excused themselves to change. I had to laugh, their clothes were ripped and bloody and they had erotic thoughts on their minds. But my laugh was tense and short, and they returned quickly, sitting down with a small giggle but sobering at my face.

Carlisle explained the situation- the whole day, since my introduction to Bella until the seconds before they arrived. I could guess at the emotions of the thoughts in the room- I didn't need to seek them. I took a deep breath.

"So, should we meet with him?" I asked at the faces of my family around the table. Silence followed my words, until Emmett broke it.

"Well, I don't see why not. Things have got too dull around here- we can take care of ourselves after all! Bring it on!" His laugh boomed around the table.

"I agree. If he's alone, we haven't much to fear. I actually doubt that he's with the Volturi, Carlisle. The secrecy he is keeping, I would say, seems to be _from_ the Volturi, not for them. So, I think you should meet with him. He's probably just looking for advice." Jasper surprised me. He was often a lot quieter in these family discussions, and I had expected him to be wary of this stranger.

"What do you think, Alice?" Rosalie asked, and instantly the whole room shifted to face her. She was frowning at the table.

"I can barely see anything… it's like he is deliberately not making his mind up, not deciding how to react, so I can't see. But I think I'd see if there was an ambush, or any other people involved. Bella is very strange… I can barely glimpse her at all. What does she look like, Edward?" Alice asked.

"Uh… long brown hair, dark eyes. Very pale and very creepy, her stare is… unnerving."

"I have had a glimpse of her then, but barely anything."

"Should we talk to them?" I asked her.

"Yes, I think so. I want to find out how he can sidestep me!"

"Esme, Rosalie?"

"Sure." They said at the same time. Rose added "I'm in where Emmett is."

"I think we should have someone accompany Carlisle though. Ideally it should be you, Edward, due to your talent with thoughts. However, Bella's blood is a problem, and we can't have an accident like that. So I think Jasper maybe? We shouldn't send too many people." Esme commented and I nodded to her in thanks for her advice.

"I'm fine with accompanying Carlisle." Jasper nodded and Alice looked up sharply. He looked at her with deep emotion in his eyes. "I'll be fine."

Everyone seemed to suddenly look at Carlisle by accident as silence swept the room again. He nodded.

"That's fine. We should wait for the sign from Alice, then."

The conference over, all the couples left for their beds. I went out to hunt, not wanting to hear their interaction. I stayed nearby, hoping to catch any whiff if Alice saw that the vampire had decided.

At dawn I returned, and Alice was sitting in the hall, nodding as if she had just seen what we had been waiting for. She called the rest of the family, and told them where she saw him waiting. They set off at once and the rest of us sat in the house try to kill time until their return. I could feel Esme and Alice's worry, and Rosalie's relief that Emmett hadn't gone, and Emmett's frustration.

After one of the longest days I have ever lived through, Carlisle and Jasper returned, with a faint whisper of Bella's scent.

_Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,  
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.  
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,  
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you_

**Hope everyone had a nice Christmas!! Thanks for all your reviews. I tried to make this one longer, and give enough information that would have you speculating a bit more. If you have any suspicions please tellll me!! Your reviews are as sweet as Jasper Hale :P And, can anyone help me with oldfashioned names for the vampire with Bella? Please?**


	5. Chapter 5

_Then take me disappearin` through the smoke rings of my mind,  
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves,_

After one of the longest days I have ever lived through, Carlisle and Jasper returned, with a faint whisper of Bella's scent.

Alice, Emmett, Rosalie and Esme were at my side in a moment. We all looked at Carlisle and Jasper, who were trying to put their thoughts into words.

"He was very courteous when we met up with him." Carlisle commented, trying to start somewhere. Jasper picked up on that and continued.

"He wanted Carlisle's advice on Bella. He was genuinely concerned about her. I haven't felt feelings like that for a human… ever. But there was also worry for himself… he was anxious in a shallower way." He stopped, and Carlisle carried on.

"She had some very bad treatment when she was young, he wouldn't specify. He found her when she was eight… she was trying to run away. He recognised something in her, the way her eyes widened when she saw him. He was intrigued, and asked her about it. Apparently she was so shaken she could barely talk. He was about to feed, but something about her made him carry her away. He didn't go home, he didn't want to make his coven face her. He had had an idea.

'You see, he'd been a kind of collector. Of talents. He could kind of tell if someone had special talents, like Eleazar. But he'd never considered that as his talent- he thought his talent was his speed. That's why he visited the Denalis. He wanted someone like Eleazar who could tell him what his talents were. And, to his amazement, he had two. He had a trace of recognising special talent, like Eleazar, but his speed was also over-developed, even for a vampire. So he wondered what made someone's talents.'

'He started experimenting on Bella, seeing her talents. She had a kind of shield, he thought. But she knew what he was, but her shield stopped him recognising the power that was.'

'He started becoming obsessed with her, testing her, seeing how she reacted. He introduced her to his old mate, and she recoiled away in terror. He spent all his time with this child, nurturing her and caring for her. He took her all over the US, seeing her reactions to things. She reacted differently to different people. Once she hugged a woman in the middle of a high street, a complete stranger. And cried when she walked away. He gained her trust, her friendship. And with incredulity, he discovered why she reacted like she did."

Carlisle's face suddenly uncharacteristically darkened. I read his thoughts before I heard Jasper's explanation.

"He began to experiment with how he could develop her powers. He sensed her shield was a genetic inheritance, yet her insight into people was something that developed. He found out her past, and realised that had created the power. So… in the name of his experiment, his science… he began to relive those experiences for her. Created the same fear, same pain.'

'He had felt sadistic at the time, I could sense it. I think he regrets it now. Especially after what happened.

'He was right. Her powers developed. And in his enthusiasm to encourage her, use her, he got more rough with her. This happened over years.'

'Then, two years ago, she tipped off the scale. Her mind became too powerful, so much it began to affect her- really affect her. It chewed her mind inside. She became so sensitive to people it caused her pain. When she saw me, I felt fear and aggression- both of them- so strong it caused me pain too. It was a while before I could compose myself, calm her down. She knew what I was doing, somehow.'

"What's her talent, then? What does she do?" Emmett asked.

"She can see people's memories. She relives them. Apparently it used to be random, only strong memories occasionally from people. Like himself- she saw him feeding. She sees memories from the person's point of view- so she becomes overwhelmed by the aggression and murder of vampire. The pain he put her through made it worse, she got more sensitive. Sensitive to bad memories- the pain made that, I think.'

'And the pain overwhelms her, terrifies her. Some how she has become immune to him, his memories don't affect her any more. But sometimes they get through- the memories of how he felt hurting her. And the pain becomes so bad she screams for hours.'

'So two years ago, he began to seek help. He sought Eleazar again, and he confirmed what he had thought about her. He stopped hurting her, and the shrieking got less and less. But she was too sensitive to go out any more- she could feel everyone's bad memories who was within fifty feet of her.'

'And Eleazar told him about our clan. But mentioning it made Bella shriek, and she wouldn't tell him why. But her episodes got worse again, more frequent. And he became desperate. He wanted to speak to someone who was medically trained enough to help him, help her. He was going to change her when she was eighteen, into a vampire with two talents that would be so strong due to her 'training'. But he feared that she was so sensitive that changing would make the memories unbearable. And he'd grown too attached to want to lose her.'

'But when he asked her about the Cullens, she shrieked, as if she was already near us. So he planned very carefully his visit to us, found out about us, learned about us. Observed us. And then, when he was too close, he had gone to hunt. Forks was too close to where he hid her, and she wandered off to find us. She stood in front of the hospital. She was admitted, as you know, to see Carlisle. And you know the rest.'

"So what did you find, what did he want?" I asked.

'She's got a case of Schizophrenia that is supernaturally different from the textbook version- it seems to stretch to other people, she views their reality. It's incredibly rare for a human to have such power, it's… I've never seen anything like it. It was like she was born to be a vampire. I'd hate to think what the Volturi would make of her… it's exactly what they look for, what they target. No wonder he hides her. They'd do worse to her than he has."

"What does he want you to do?" Emmett inquired.

"Wants a way to cure her. Help her. I can't believe how selfish he's been, how he's made this happen. It's horrible… but I can't leave her. I have to help. And he knows that. So does Bella, I think."

"How will you do that?" I said softly.

"I… I'm not sure yet. My presence seems to calm her, so I'll start visiting her after work. I think I'll start by trying to find out about her past, what things have made the visions worse, if anything ever made them better. I can't think of the colossal power she would have if she was changed now. But she needs serious help- I can see why he finally was driven to ask for help. What he's done is outrageous, I can't believe anyone would kidnap a young girl, to just… It's unthinkable."

_Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,  
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.  
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,  
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you_

**Quite a short chapter, sorry. It looked longer when I wrote it lol. and it feelt longer believe me. I had a strange idea to update all my stories on the same day for some reason, so thats why theres been a delay in updating. sorry again. if anyone cud possibly read and review my new story No Questions Forgotten Names I'd be really pleased and I'll update this one quickly! **

**Thanks for everyone whos put this on Favourite Stories, or Alerts. Please could you review as well? I want to know why you like the story, and no-one seems to review this story even though I get emails saying its been added to favourites! Please!**


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